Perfect Pendlebury: Pies great escapes ban, giving him clear run at games record

Scott Pendlebury’s exemplary record over two decades of AFL has paid off after the Collingwood superstar avoided suspension at the tribunal on Tuesday night for a rough conduct charge stemming from the weekend’s clash with Adelaide.

After avoiding the tribunal since his AFL career began in 2006, Pendlebury was fined $3000 for bumping Crows opponent Josh Worrell at the MCG on Saturday night.

After more than 50 minutes of deliberations, tribunal chairman Jeff Gleeson KC said Pendlebury did not deserve to be suspended.

“We find that he did indeed [have] sufficient time to make an election to bump,” Gleeson said.

“He does lean slightly towards Worrell at a time when it appeared Worrell’s opponent [Pendlebury’s teammate Beau] McCreery would gain possession of the ball [and could have avoided the incident].

“Turning now to the plea of exceptional and compelling circumstance, we are comfortably satisfied that this provision applies to Scott Pendlebury.

“To have played 427 games of AFL football as a midfielder engaged in many thousands of contests over his career, and to have never been suspended is clearly exceptional when compared with the entire history of VFL/AFL players.”

Collingwood took every step possible to ensure their player would avoid suspension. At the start of his evidence, Pendlebury confirmed he’d never faced a tribunal in junior football or in his 427-game AFL career – as well as during his junior basketball career.

Remarkably, Pendlebury had only been fined a few times. The three offences that resulted in monetary penalties – for rough conduct, tripping and striking – have happened since 2022.

In his evidence, Pendlebury maintained that he had braced for impact and at no stage was he trying to bump Worrell.

Asked when he first saw the Crow, Pendlebury replied: “When the ball hits the deck and changes direction, that’s when I knew that [all the players] were going to collide.

“I brace myself for a collision at that point that I thought was going to be inevitable. If I didn’t brace myself, I thought we were going to knock each other out.”

Collingwood’s player representative, Myles Tehan, primed the veteran AFL player by asking him about the notion of duty of care for opponents.

“When you approach any contest, it’s to look after players around you as the head is sacrosanct,” Pendlebury said.

Pendlebury said once he had chosen to brace for contact, he started to slow down.

“I think the first reaction, especially with the duty of care, is to decelerate as quickly as possible,” Pendlebury said.

“In real time, it happened so quickly - I was just trying to brace for what was inevitable.”

The veteran Magpie said he first became aware of the level of contact with Worrall the following day when he was told he’d been cited by the AFL’s match review officer.

“Once the incident happened, I didn’t think anything of it,” Pendlebury said.

“It’s never been my intention in my career to try and injure another player.”

Under further questioning from the AFL’s counsel, Albert Dinelli KC, Pendlebury emphasised that he had no option but to brace for contact.

“If I feel like I don’t turn my body to brace … we’d both be “open as”, like a split down the middle,” Pendlebury said.

“I think anytime you brace for contact you have to go forward where the hit [impact] is. At that speed, I can’t go backwards.”

Collingwood also tendered evidence showing Pendlebury’s speed in the incident had slowed – from more than 6km/h down to nearly 1km/h.

“That amount of deceleration is inconsistent with a player trying to bump,” Tehan said in summation.

“A bump would involve an acceleration of speed, not a deceleration of speed.

“The tribunal has the medical report. Worrell returned to play and ended up being one of Adelaide’s best players.

“We say the contact was not unreasonable.”

Pendlebury’s exemplary record was freely discussed throughout the hearing.

“If the tribunal considers that Mr Pendlebury is guilty of rough conduct, he relies on his exemplary playing record as an exceptional and compelling circumstance which warrants the imposition of a punishment other than suspension,” Tehan said in opening.

Collingwood even compared the records of other 400-game AFL players – Shaun Burgoyne, Brent Harvey and Dustin Fletcher – who were suspended for six, 12 and 20 matches respectively across their careers.

Tribunal regulations allow players to argue for leniency based on their record.

The relevant clause reads: “Players will not automatically receive a reduced sanction for a good record. However, if a classifiable offence is contested or referred to the tribunal, a player with an exemplary record may argue that their good record constitutes exceptional and compelling circumstances”.

The Pies veteran is due to equal former North Melbourne champion Harvey’s games record against Essendon on Anzac Day before breaking it the following week against Hawthorn.

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